- Monday, 05 October 2015 15:44
- Written by David Pipe
Autumn and the month of October has begun well for the stable with a couple of winners taking our seasonal tally to 30, while the remainder of our runners performed with credit without exception. There is plenty to look forward to in the week ahead as we have the ante-post favourite for the prestigious Cesarewitch handicap on the flat at Newmarket on Saturday, while we could be making another trip across the Channel to Auteuil on Sunday.
Looking back to last week and it was that terrific homebred mare Weather Babe (pictured above) who managed to get the ball rolling with a hard fought success in the novices’ chase at Bangor on Thursday. It may only have been a three runner contest but the opposition were capable performers in their own right and our seven year old produced a most likeable performance to score in the hands of Tom Scudamore. Jumping extremely well on only her second outing over the larger obstacles, she appeared to be the first one beaten although she remained in touch throughout under a persistent ride from Scu and gradually began to wear the opposition down approaching the last. From there she stayed on in great style to record a length and a half success. She has now won seven times in bumpers, hurdles and chases and is a great credit to Wayne and Sarah Clifford who bred her. She is tremendously tough and while she does appear to have a slight preference for a sound surface, she deserves a step up in company and we are going to have to look at raising our sights with her in the near future.
Things were altogether easier for Skylander (pictured left) on Friday as he made the long journey up to Hexham worthwhile with a decisive success on his first start over fences in the novices’ handicap chase. A winner of a point-to-point in Ireland, he had been plying his trade successfully over timber although he had pleased me with his schooling at home. Barring a slight mistake at the last, he put in a good round of jumping and will be out again in something similar in the next couple of weeks. He will stay further than this 2m4f trip so there should be no shortage of opportunities for him.
As I have already mentioned, all of our other runners ran creditably with the likes of Willem, Purple ‘N Gold and Impulsive American all finishing second and it only looks to be a matter of time before they go one better.
At this point I would like to congratulate the connections of Golden Horn for their fantastic Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe success at Longchamp on Sunday. What an exciting race and what a great ride from the evergreen Frankie Dettori. I must admit I had hoped to see Treve make history with an incredible third success in the race, but John Gosden Derby winner was by far the best horse on the day. Congratulations to them on a fantastic achievement.
Looking ahead and this week should certainly be exciting with Border Breaker a possible runner in the valuable 3m1½f handicap chase, while Western Diva is an intended runner in the two mile handicap hurdle at Worcester on Thursday. Also on Thursday we have a number of entries at Exeter including the likes of For ‘N Against and Perspicace, while Gevrey Chambertin and Purple ‘N Gold figure among the entries for Newton Abbot’s final fixture of the season on Friday and Stars Over The Sea, The Liquidator, Kalifourchon, Standing Ovation and co could head to Chepstow this weekend. I am pleased to have The Liquidator back following injury and he has been showing his usual enthusiasm on the gallops at home.
Of course, the runners for later in the week are very much ground dependent and with the forecast for the next few days very unsettled, we will see what the official going is before committing. As usual, all of the latest news with regard to runners will feature in Chester’s daily chat.
One certain runner this week will be Low Key (pictured above) who is the ante-post favourite for the Betfred Cesarewitch at Newmarket on Saturday. He has been favourite for the race since landing the trial over the course and distance last month and he sneaks into the field towards the bottom of the weights. He will once again be partnered by champion apprentice elect Tom Marquand, who will take a handy 3lbs off his back. I have been very pleased with his preparation and I hope to go one better than when Mamlook finished runner-up for me in 2009. Any rain between now and then will suit and I am optimistic that he will run a big race. He could be joined by ex-French winning hurdler Alternatif, who needs just seven to come out to get a run. He is also engaged in the Irish version on Sunday at the Curragh and could take his chance there should he not make the cut for Newmarket.
The stable could have another high profile runner this weekend when Dynaste could make his eagerly awaited reappearance at Auteuil on Sunday in a Grade 3 2m3½f hurdle. He is now fully recovered from the injury sustained when finishing a close third behind subsequent Grand National winner Many Clouds at Cheltenham in January. We will make a decision on his participation around mid-week but regardless of whether he runs on Sunday or not, he is very close to making his return and I am very much looking forward to getting a full season into him this time around.
One of the great buzzing bees in my bonnet has long been the race planning programme. It is something that has been broken for some considerable time and only now with a consultation process taking place is the matter being addressed. Will it solve anything? I certainly hope so…it still beggars belief the number of meetings that take place in the same vicinity on the same day, or worse still (as was the case earlier in the season) where local meetings took place on four consecutive days. With similar races scheduled at each meeting where on earth did the committee think the runners would come from?
This is not a new problem – we were having a clear out the other day when my father came across a copy of The Sporting Life from February 1990. In the ‘Lifestyles’ section there was a fascinating piece by Mark Popham with trainer Jim Old. In it Jim’s main complaint about racing was “The racing programme is diabolical and in urgent need of repair…we must have centralised race planning…the Jockey Club licenses all courses and they should have total control over what sort of meetings take place and when they are run…it is absurd to have Chepstow and Hereford on the same day – such clashes can be avoided.” In a sport that is supposed to be forward thinking and progressive, it is a shame to see that we are still no further toward a solution to this problem 25 years later. Let’s hope the consultancy process comes up with some great ideas and it doesn’t take another 25 years to implement them!
Finally, I would like to offer my sincerest congratulations to our young amateur jockey Tom Greatrex who scored his first success when winning today (Monday) aboard the Ron Hodges trained Dreams Of Glory in the five furlong amateur riders’ handicap. He is a very capable young man and I am sure that this is the first of many winners.
